Arctic Stories

In 2007, nine polar bear conflicts were registered in all of Greenland. By 2017, there were 21 conflicts between August and December in the village of Ittoqqortoormiit alone. In almost all of the 21 cases, the local polar bear patrol was called to ensure that the bears were scared away from the community and kept under observation.

January 2018 brought record-low sea ice cover to the Arctic, according to new data released by the US government. That’s bad news for the ocean, wildlife, and local communities that rely on both for survival.

The Trump administration called for the removal of crucial Arctic protections in a new draft proposal of where oil and gas companies can purchase leases for offshore drilling. Take a look at how a handful of the Arctic’s abundant wildlife would be impacted by offshore drilling and a potential oil spill in the Arctic.

Alaska’s Bristol Bay is a sprawling watershed of winding streams and rivers, vast wetlands and tundra, forests of alder and spruce, and home to a variety of fish, birds and terrestrial animals. Learn more about this incredible place that WWF is working hard to save.

Most of the Arctic’s federal waters are off limits to thanks to protections put in place in 2016. But the Trump administration and some in Congress want to allow fossil fuel companies to begin bidding for a chance to drill.

The Polar Bear Conservation Management Plan, which focuses on actions for the two U.S. subpopulations in Alaska, stresses the importance of climate change mitigation in curbing the loss of the polar bear’s sea ice habitat.

Just one week after scientists warned of unprecedented change brought on by warming in the Arctic, President Obama announced permanent protection for 115 million acres of federal waters in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. Including previous presidential withdrawals, today's action protects nearly 125 million acres in the offshore Arctic from future oil and gas activity.

As the planet warms, we’re seeing a startling loss of Arctic sea ice. This is a major concern when it comes to wildlife conservation—particularly for polar bears. Dr. Klenzendorf shares her experience observing polar bears in Churchill.

America’s Arctic will be free of new offshore oil and gas drilling, at least for the next five years, and that’s good news for people and wildlife. WWF and 225,000 of our activists opposed drilling in the Arctic’s Beaufort and Chuckchi seas due to the tremendous risk to indigenous communities, wildlife, and their environment.

Who doesn't love the big, burly white bears of the north? Polar bears—at the top of the food chain and vital to the health of the Arctic marine environment—are important to the cultures and economies of Arctic peoples.

The Arctic—home to diverse wildlife and many cultures—is changing faster than any other part of the planet in the face of climate change. But there’s still time left to help the Arctic and the impacts of climate change. Experts agreed on five important ways we can take action.

The Arctic’s summer sea ice appears to have hit its lowest extent of the year, putting pressure on the region’s diverse wildlife. Ice covered only 1.6 million square miles on Sept. 10, and 2016 is now tied with 2007 for the second-lowest sea ice extent on record, according to the US National Snow and Ice Data Center.